High clearance axle for center-post augers



Dec. 21, 1965 M. MAYRATH 3,

HIGH CLEARANCE AXLE FOR CENTER-POST AUGERS Filed July 2, 1962 INVENTOR Marf/n May/211%,

BY I W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,224,561 HIGH CLEARANCE AXLE FOR CENTER-POST AUGERS Martin Mayrath, 10707 Lennox Lane, Dallas, Tex. Filed July 2, 1962, Ser. No. 206,795 2 Claims. (Cl. 198120.5)

This invention is concerned with improvements in the construction of auger conveyors of the type having a wheeled undercarriage, and especially those in which the undercarriage supports a center post or substantially vertical mast along which slides a sleeve that in turn supports the main auger tube at a desired angle of elevation. The general construction of typical auger conveyors (grain loaders) of this type is shown in the prior patent to R. L. Mayrath, No. 2,673,639, of March 30, 1954.

Previous auger conveyors of the above kind have generally employed a pair of ground wheels at opposite ends of a continuous axle, to which the main center post has been welded with suitable bracing. Such construction has two serious disadvantages: first, the undercarriage axle establishes a fairly low ground clearance, which is objectionable when the conveyor has to be transported over the rough roads or tracks which are common in farming operations; second, the integral nature of the axle and center post establish a minimum overall height for the conveyor, even with the auger tube at a low elevation angle, that prevents the loader from entering the low doorways of barns or granaries. There are also collateral disadvantages, among Which may be mentioned the difficulty and cost of shipping the integral axle-and-post assembly, and the interference which the solid axle presents when it is necessary to move the loader out of a pile of grain or the like in which the axle has become embedded.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a construction which eliminates the solid or continuous axle and substitutes a pair of aligned stub axles for the respective ground wheels, greatly improving the maneuverability of the machine and thus overcoming some of the noted objections. At the same time, the construction of the invention provides several important related advantages. Among these are the complete elimination of welded joints, whereby the entire construction can be made of completely galvanized or otherwise plated components, bolted together and readily assembled and disassembled for shipment; the provision of a considerable degree of inherent resilience in the undercarriage for resistance to shocks when the conveyor is being wheeled over rough terrain; and the demountability of the upper portion of the center post (when the auger tube is in a lowered position) to allow the machine to enter relatively low-clearance doors or hatches.

The invention will be described below in connection with a single preferred embodiment, given by way of instruction so that those skilled in the art can readily make and use the same; but the details of that construction can be altered without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims appearing at the end of this specification. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the loader or conveyor as a whole, showing the general organization thereof and certain of the constructional details.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in vertical elevation from the opposite side and to a larger scale than FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded diagrammatic view further claritying the construction and assembly.

The general arrangement of a grain loader or anger conveyor incorporating the inew construction will best be apprehended from a consideration of FIG. 1, in which the main auger tube (from twenty feet upwards in length) is supported intermediate of its ends by a pivotal connection to the support sleeve 12 slidable along a generally vertical post or mast 14 having at its upper end a pulley block 16 which is part of the usual chain hoist by which sleeve 12 is raised and lowered to establish the desired elevation angle of the conveyor. The auger tube 10 may have the usual outrigged bracing 18, and may carry a motor or engine 20 belted to the head idler and drive pulley at 22, and the usual radius rods 24 and 26 connect a lower point on the auger tube with points close to the respective ground wheels 28 and 30; these and other details of a known form of wheeled auger conveyor are not directly related to the present invention, and may therefore be selected or varied as desired.

In previous designs of machines of this type, the ground wheels have been journaled at opposite ends of a transversely continuous axle shaft, to whose center point the vertical post 14 was connected; usually by welding. The present invention eliminates this continuous axle, and substitutes for it a pair of independent stub axles for the ground wheels, these stub axles or spindles 32 and 34 being secured in holes at the lower ends of respective tubular legs 36 and 38, as by press fits. The upper ends of these ogee shaped legs converge towards one another, and are secured by a bolt 40 to a point on the center post 14 slightly above its lower end. The lower extremity of the center post passes into an aperture 42 (see FIG. 3) of the connecting web 44 of a sheet-metal channel-shaped brace 46, whose extremities are shaped as indicated so as to mate with the tubular legs 36 and 38, to which they are in turn secured by bolts 48 and 50.

The cross-brace 46 is positioned rather near the point of connection of legs 36 and 38 to the center post, so that, as indicated by dash lines in FIG. 2, the inherent resilience of the remaining length of each leg allows the ground wheels 28 and 30 to spring independently and thus to cushion the machine against shocks and jar-s. This relatively high location of the cross brace also provides a desirably high clearance for the undercarriage as a whole, allowing the same to be wheeled over rough terrain, and eliminating the resistance heretofore encountered when the machine had to be pulled out of a pile of grain or the like in which the undercarriage was more or less embedded; an operation which has been a potent source of damage to the auger and other parts.

The stub axles 32 and 34 are preferably of cold-rolled steel of suitable size, and as best shown in FIG. 2 each is press-fitted through a suitable hole in its respective leg (such as leg 36 in this figure) with a sufiicient protrusion to allow the flattened and apertured end of the corresponding radius rod (24 in FIG. 2) to be slipped over the axle and held in place by the bearing of the correspond ing ground wheel such as 28. A burr, pinch or equivalent deformation 52 in each stub axle acts to define its position in the end of the leg in which it is fitted.

As indicated previously, the upper section of mast or post 14 is preferably made demountable, without disturbing the support afforded the auger tube when the sleeve 12 is in its lowermost position. Thus, as best shown in FIG. 3, post 14 actually consists of a tubular lower section 54 (to which the ends of legs 36 and 38 are bolted as described) to which the tubular upper section 56 is connected by a reduced-diameter connecting sleeve or rod 58 permanently secured in the lower end of that upper section as by a swaging operation. Thus, when the sup port sleeve 12 has been lowered the maximum distance, it can rest upon the ends of legs 36 and 38; FIG. 2 shows this position. The upper section 56 of post 12 (with connector 58) can then be removed, together with the hoist "and chain, so that the loader may readily enter even a low-clearance doorway into a barn, storage bin or the like.

Numeral 60 designates a grou-nd-engageable brake rod pivoted and slidable in a stirrup clamp at the lower end of sleeve 12. When the clamp is loosened, the rod may be extended downward (as indicated by dash lines in FIG. 1) to engage the ground and prevent movement of the auger by gravity forces as well as by the thrust of the auger itself, when required; the clamp locks it in an out of the way position at other times.

It will be seen that the invention satisfies its stated purposes in a very simple, economical and yet effective manner, but the construction described can varied in details without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wheeled conveyor, a pair of coplanar downwardly diverging tubular support legs of generally ogee shape possessing an appreciable degree of flexural resilience, a substantially vertical mast comprising a lower portion bolted between the upper ends of said legs and an upper portion extending upwardly and demountable from said lower portion, a conveyor carried by said upper portion of said mast, a horizontal stub axle carried by the lower extremity of each of said legs, a ground Wheel journaled on each stub axle, a cross brace connecting said legs at a level substantially closer to their upper ends than their lower ends whereby said legs below said cross brace are free to fiex and thus provide a vertically resilient connection between said Wheels and said conveyor, said lower portion of said mast extending downwardly below its connection to said legs and having its lower extremity in bracing engagement with said cross brace and terminating substantially at the level thereof, to leave the space below said cross brace and between said wheels free of obstruction.

2. A wheeled conveyor in accordance with claim 1 wherein said cross brace has an opening corresponding in shape and size to, and receiving the lower extremity of, said lower portion of said mast to form said bracing engagement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1944 Moschel 198-233 5/1951 Mayrath 198233 WILLIAM B. LABORDE, ERNEST A. FALLER,

Examiners. 

1. IN A WHEELED CONVEYOR, A PAIR OF COPLANAR DOWNWARDLY DIVERGING TUBULAR SUPPORT LEGS OF GENERALLY OGEE SHAPE POSSESSING AN APPRECIABLE DEGREE OF FLEXURAL RESILIENCE, A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL MAST COMPRISING A LOWER PORTION BOLTED BETWEEN THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID LEGS AND AN UPPER PORTION EXTENDING UPWARDLY AND DEMOUNTABLE FROM SAID LOWER PORTION, A CONVEYOR CARRIED BY SAID UPPER PORTION OF SAID MAST, A HORIZONTAL STUB AXLE CARRIED BY THE LOWER EXTREMITY OF EACH OF SAID LEGS, A GROUND WHEEL JOURNALED ON EACH STUB AXLE, A CROSS BRACE CONNECTING SAID LEGS AT A LEVEL SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSER TO THEIR UPPER ENDS THAN THEIR LOWER ENDS WHEREBY SAID LEGS BELOW SAID CROSS BRACE ARE FREE TO FLEX AND THUS PROVIDE A VERTICALL RESILIENT CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID WHEELS AND SAID CONVEYOR, SAID LOWER PORTION OF SAID MAST EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY BELOW ITS CONNECTION TO SAID LEGS AND HAVING ITS LOWER EXTREMITY IN BRACING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CROSS BRACE AND TERMINATING SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE LEVEL THEREOF, TO LEAVE THE SPACE BELOW SAID CROSS BRACE AND BETWEEN SAID WHEELS FREE OF SAID OBSTRUCTION. 